History's Number 1 Founder

The Da Kong Zen Master seemed like he became one with the crystal wall through his connection with the relic and the relic’s connection to the wall through the rows of black scripture.

Buddhist light flashed above his head and transformed into a spell body of a giant Buddha that was pure-gold and emanated green light.

The Tidal Sword Elder had already been briefed by the Da Kong Zen Master about the current situation, so they were not too surprised as they watched the Da Kong Monk place his Buddha Spell Body on full display.

The Da Kong Monk used to be part of the inner circle of the Great Thunderclap Temple and was raised as a talented prodigy with a great destiny. The mantras that he practiced was the Amoghasiddhi Mantra, which was part of the Five Tathagata Dharmas of the Compass and ranked amongst the likes of the Forever-Bright Tathagata Mantra and the Vairocana Sutra.

He was at the second-level Golden Form stage and the form of his Buddha Spell Body was naturally that of the Amoghasiddhi Buddha. His right hand gripped two Vajras and his left hand held a bell and his throne was supported by the horned Sangsang Bird.

The Sangsang Bird was a spiritual bird that existed between the Primordial Age and the Antiquity Age and was now extinct. It had a human-like body with feathers and horns on its head.

Legend had it that the olden adventurers that were on treasure-hunting expeditions would sometimes hear the sounds of the Sangsang Bird and they would immediately find what they were looking for even though the Bird never showed itself. Such was the fabled effects of the call of the Sangsang Bird.

In Buddhist Scripture, the special characteristics of the Sangsang Bird originated from one of the Buddha representations of the Five Wisdoms, the Amoghaisddhi Buddha, who had the power to make every dream come true and accomplish all necessary activities.

However, the revelation of the Amoghaisiddhi Buddha Spell Body was not meant to pierce through the crystal wall but to activate the ancient relic left behind by the Zhi Guang Zen Master.

As black scripture continued to stream out of the ancient relic, it finally started to change and began radiating with golden Buddhist light.

The Amoghaisiddhi Spell Body above the Da Kong Monk’s head began to materialize and became something like a transparent soul. Subsequently, it was absorbed into the relic through the rows of scripture, which was now golden in color. The ancient relic exploded with light as a light shadow appeared out of nowhere, drifted momentarily in midair, and entered the interior of the crystal wall.

Most of the other cultivators from the Great Zhou Empire and the Vast Sea Sword Sect stepped forward in front of the crystal wall. Their souls immediately left the shell of their physical bodies as they did not even channel the powers of their nascent souls or their aurous cores – they simply floated through the crystal wall.

The people that remained, which included the Tidal Sword Elder, waited in silence and kept watch for the others whose souls had left their bodies.

The Da Kong Monk had directly activated the original soul of the relic and the remnant memories within, therefore he already had a rough idea of how to enter the mysterious illusion at the core of the mountain.

It was a lot more troublesome for the Celestial Sect of Wonders and the Great Qin Empire as they had to work out the solution by themselves.

Zhu Yi, Li Yuanfang, Jieyu and Baiguang sat on the ground with their legs crossed and stared at the crystal wall. They were still patient in searching for an answer despite the time they had already spent doing practically nothing.

The Green Glass Jade Stand was placed in front of Zhu Yi and said nothing as the Green Glass Soul was studying the crystal wall as well.

The shadow of a giant turtle flickered within Zhu Yi’s pupils as countless ancient characters surged around as Zhu Yi did his calculations.

All of a sudden, he felt as if he had entered a mystical world as his consciousness departed from his physical body and even his soul. He ‘integrated’ into Heaven and Earth as he watched his physical body sitting cross-legged on the ground.

He could no longer feel his nascent soul and neither could he feel his physical body – he could not even feel his soul. However, Zhu Yi could see the burning fire of his soul which became stronger and stronger.

This strength did not come from the innate power of his soul or his agility. Rather, it was something more mystical and profound, as if he could see through everything from the past to the future.

Only Zhu Yi could see this fire – it was the Fire of Intelligence.

Amongst Lin Feng’s direct disciples, Wang Lin and Zhu Yi had the most powerful souls, but both of them could not compare to the innate strength of Shi Tianhao.

Wang Lin cleansed his soul with the River Styx Primordial Water. During the Spiritual Conference of Huanghai, Zhu Yi’s soul was sparked with the Fire of Intelligence which caused his soul to evolve.

However, this inexplicable phenomenon had never occurred again ever since. Even Zhu Yi himself could not bring about such an event.

Through the crystal wall in front of him, Zhu Yi quietly observed and felt the unique willpower and the mystical transformations of the Ying Sea and once again sparked the Fire of Intelligence and his soul evolved to become a lot more acute than before.

He felt as if he had freed himself from the chains of life and detached himself from the eternal river of time, and was also able to perceive the secrets of the past and the uncertainties of the future.

Such powerful senses and acuteness of perception was something that not even immortal soul stage cultivators typically possessed. Not even they could reach this level.

Even though the fire flickered for a tiny moment and was extinguished immediately after, Zhu Yi managed to grasp the key to the problem.

"The... Soul?" Zhu Yi’s eyes sparkled as Li Yuanfang and the others turned and gazed at him. Zhu Yi took a moment to settle down and explained, "If my senses and my calculations are not wrong, then only the pure soul can enter the crystal wall onto the other side of the illusion."

"Even immortal soul stage cultivators have to transform their immortal souls into the original form of the soul."

Li Yuanfang frowned a little and said, "If only our souls are allowed to enter, then we can only rely on the strengths of our souls in response to any unforeseen circumstances within the illusion. All spell-power and mana will be rendered useless, and not even our magic items or whatsoever can be used."

Zhu Yi shook his head slowly. "I don’t think so. I may be wrong, but I can feel that there’s something else hidden within the illusion and it’s not as simple as that."

He glanced at the others and said, "I will send my soul inside and you guys will remain here to protect my body."

Jieyu seemed a little worried. "All by yourself?"

Zhu Yi nodded his head. "The illusion is strange and insidious. While it may not simply purely be about the strength of the soul, my soul is still the strongest amongst our company. Only I need to go inside."

Jieyu and Baiguang exchanged a look. Their souls were relatively powerful as well, but there was no way they would let Li Yuanfang keep watch by himself. Even though Zhu Yi had multiple magic items in his possession – including the Green Glass Jade Stand, the Supreme Holy Ancient Apparel, the Eternal Night Demonic Stele, and the Yang Heaven Lamp and even the You Heaven Robe – these Gestation-level and Metaplasia-level magic treasures could not be channeled properly without Zhu Yi at the mantle.

However, Zhu Yi’s solo entry might be a little too perilous and risky. Baiguang contemplated momentarily and suggested, "Why not let me follow you inside? My husband can keep watch with Li Yuanfang with the magic items that you will leave behind."

Jieyu’s mouth hung open and wanted to object but Baiguang interrupted him. "Us demons have never been too adept with the use of magic treasures, and neither did we forge these things either. You are in the demonic lord advanced stage and I’m only in the demonic lord intermediate stage, so it’s more suitable for you to wield them instead of me."

"Do take care." Jieyu had no choice but to nod his head in agreement.

Once a consensus had been reached, Zhu Yi and Baiguang wasted no more time as their souls departed from their bodies and flew into the crystal wall.

Zhu Yi’s senses were correct. Once they left their physical bodies, their souls felt no obstruction at all as they passed through the crystal wall and officially entered the strange illusion at the core of the mountain.

Once they were inside, their environment changed once again. Supernovas flashed in the sky and they found themselves in a vast space that resembled the endless starry universe.

Zhu Yi was not even able to react as his soul became enveloped by spheres of starlight.

"Eh?" Zhu Yi activated his senses once again and realized that this sphere of starlight was not toxic or harmful towards his soul. Instead, it seemed to provide his soul with a new physical shell. However, this new physical body was not human-shaped, and neither was it shaped like any living thing in the world – it was a simply a sphere of starlight that flashed with faint traces of red.

However, once he integrated with the sphere of starlight, Zhu Yi started to feel flashbacks of memories inside his soul.

This were not his own pieces but someone else’s, and pictures after pictures flowed into his mind.

"These are... The memories of the Wang Hao, the Great Sun Holy Man?" Zhu Yi was the most knowledgeable out of all of Lin Feng’s disciples, and he fell short of omniscience, he was able to infer the identity the original owner of these set of remnant memories.

His name was Wang Hao, and he was the successor to Emperor Chen during the Antiquity Age of human emperors. He was known as the Great Sun Holy Man and practiced his mantras side by side with Emperor Chen, and succeeded the Emperor Chen’s lineage of mantras that were based on the transformations of the stars. He managed to attain the second-level immortal soul stage as well, but met his unfortunate end during one of the reappearances of the Three Mountains of the Ying Sea.

However, based on his own repertoire of knowledge, the death of the Great Sun Holy Man had nothing to do with the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain but was connected to the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain instead.

Zhu Yi oriented himself as he assumed control of this new temporary physical body and probed forward into the spatial illusion.

In the next moment, countless numbers of stars exploded forth towards him!

Amongst them included the Path of Hell’s Molten Lava Netherworld Formation from the ancient Samsara Sect, the Shaoshang Sword from the Mount Shu Sword Sect, the Blood River Sect’s Light of Divine Plasma from the satanic sects of the Antiquity Age, the Purple Clouds Sect’s Nine Heavens Thunder and even the Supreme Nine-Holes Mantra of the True Gods from the Great Void Sect!

All kinds of mantras and spells besieged Zhu Yi at the same time.

Every star possessed a unique and secret spell or mantra from the powerful sects in the history of the Divine Lands.

Zhu Yi’s mind spun with ideas and thoughts as he desperately tried to find a way out. "The forces of these spells are not the same – the cultivators behind them are not of the same level of mastery."

"The Supreme Nine-Holes Mantra of the True Gods is channeled by a first-level immortal soul stage cultivator, and the Shaoyang Sword Technique is executed by a second-level immortal soul stage, and the Molten Lava Netherworld Formation is directed by a nascent soul advanced stage cultivator. The Nine Heavens Thunder should also be a first-level immortal soul stage cultivator..."

Zhu Yi meticulously went through the various information and materials that he had received about the Ying Sea before they started on their expedition. With the strength of his soul, he had no problem remembering any volume of information and materials and he could recall every single name that he had seen before at whim.

"The Spiritual Zither Holy Man of the Great Void Sect, first-level immortal soul stage, died inside one of the illusions of the Ying Sea."

"A Shaoyang Swordmaster from the Middle Ages, second-level immortal soul stage, failed in his endeavor to control the Penglai Celestial Mountain and was crushed by the mountain which channeled the strength of the Ying Sea."

"Not too sure about the Path of Hell of the Samara Sect. Information is unclear – records and archives probably exist only within the sect itself."

"An immortal soul stage cultivator from the Purple Clouds Sect from over six thousand years ago, named the Shocking Thunder Holy Man, failed in his ambition to take over the Fangzhang Celestial Mountain and was pulverized by the dragon illusions which besieged him at the summit."

"The others... including my own temporary body – the Great Sun Holy Man," Zhu Yi took a deep a breath, "the illusion at the core of the Yingzhou Celestial Mountain is drawing on the powers of the Ying Sea and has managed to replicate the remnant souls of powerful cultivators that perished within the Ying Sea over the years!"

Faced with an overwhelming assault, Zhu Yi started to make his move. The stars flickered but he was not casting his own mantras and abhijnas – the sphere of starlight materialized into the figure of a man and he punched out with an explosive roar.

The secret Martial Way of the Lineage of the Emperor Chen – the Celestial Fist of the Twenty-Eight Mansions!